


stars will guide you home

by michiko (afire)



Series: once upon a december [2]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M, fluff I suppose, lots o build up, margo ya butt, this is like
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-04 09:13:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4132044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afire/pseuds/michiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>this is a story about a boy, a girl and a whole lot of ice cream</p>
            </blockquote>





	stars will guide you home

**Author's Note:**

> smh this is for margo

The grocery store is way too brightly lit for Luke's liking. Being midnight, everywhere else was pretty much dark, lit only by the moonlight. Everywhere else was also cold, seeing as it was winter. The grocery store however, was warm, even though it burned his retinas with a horrible artificial white light. They were lucky they sold ice-cream if not he would sue. He hightails it to the dairy aisle, ducking to look into the refrigerator. At first glance it looked empty, but in the very corner there was one last tub of … what even was that?

He stretched his hand in for a closer look, only to be met by something much too warm to be ice-cream. He would know. Luke glanced up only to find himself looking into another human face. He blinked once, a little startled to say the least. She looked like she hadn't slept in days, and the fact that Luke was thinking that really said something.

"I'm sorry I think I got this first.", she says, and he can tell she's trying really hard to be polite. Nevertheless he was 100% sure he was the first one there. "I think it was me actually.", he replies sheepishly, keeping a firm hold on the tub of ice cream. The girl stares at him for 2 seconds in disbelief before turning and walking firmly out the door. Luke stands there for a moment, before walking to the counter to pay up.

He thinks about her as he hands over the $6.79, mulling over what had just happened. As the cashier is handing him the ice cream in a plastic bag, he comes to a sudden decision, and so grabbing the bag, Luke runs out the door.

* * *

The night air is a cold shock against his face as he barges out the door. Snow is falling in drifts and obscuring his vision, but even without it Luke can tell that the girl is gone. He hisses out a breath in frustration and watches as it condenses in the air in front of him.

The boy hangs his head, cursing his own foolishness, when he realizes that the girl left footprints. It's almost certainly hers, because no one else would be out at this time of the night, and the prints looked strikingly like the pair of Adidas that she had on.

Luke's breath materialized in the frosty air in front of him as he moved, coming out in short bursts in tune with his breathing. The footprints led him to a small brownstone apartment, a shiny gold 9 glistening on the door.

He takes a deep breath, blinking really hard once to get the tiredness out of his eyes before raising a hand to knock on the door, wincing as the sound echoes around the quiet neighborhood.

* * *

It's probably a minute or two before she answers the door, but to Luke it feels like hours, maybe days. When it finally swings open, he lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Luke holds up the plastic bag with the tub of ice cream in it. "I'm really sorry about before, here you can have it.", he says, pushing it forward and beyond the door frame.

The girl narrows her eyes at him before her hand flashes out to grab the bag, and it's not two seconds later that the door is slammed in his face. "Guess I deserved that.", Luke mutters to himself under his breath, stuffing his freezing hands into his coat pocket before turning round and descending the small flight of steps that he had climbed to get to her door.

At the bottom he pauses, looking up at her door for a moment before turning and walking back down the street. This time he's not following any footprints, and to Luke it seems as if something important is missing.

* * *

The next Sunday he goes back to the same shop, leaning into the refrigerator to see which flavor of ice cream has only one tub left. It turns out to be chocolate chip, so Luke grabs it and goes to the cashier like he did last week, taking a ten dollar bill out of his pocket before the guy behind the counter can tell him the price and telling him that no change is needed.

This time he doesn't need footprints in the snow to lead him to the apartment. He still hesitates though, before knocking. Luke doesn't know if he'll be welcome here, again at such a late hour. After all she wasn't exactly very welcoming the previous time. Quite the opposite in fact.

He finally knocks, knowing that he'd stand here all night if he waited any longer. The door opens, and the girl doesn't bother to hide her surprise that he was once again standing before her. "I uh, I got the last flavor.", he says, holding up the bag and pushing it toward her once more.

The girl raises an eyebrow, saying nothing. There's a few seconds where none of them move, but then her hand is flashing out to take hold of the bag, and Luke feels more relieved than he should be at the prospect of a stranger accepting his gift. He half expects her to slam the door in his face again, but this time he would swear she almost smiles.

* * *

The same thing happens the following week. Luke has a ten dollar bill in his pocket, ready to be spent. This time the last flavor is vanilla brownie. Luke smiles to himself, thinking that this variety of flavors was very interesting indeed. He walks up to the cashier once more, and in under a minute is walking the familiar route to a familiar brownstone apartment.

He still hesitates before knocking, and Luke wonders if there'll ever come a day that he doesn't second-guess himself in front of her door. He does knock though, eventually. This time the door swings open easily, and she doesn't even bother to look surprised. Luke raises the bag, thinking that she doesn't need an explanation anymore.

As she takes hold of the bag, he decides it's time to introduce himself. It's been almost a month and he's been buying ice cream for a girl and they don't even know each other's names. "I'm uh, my name is Luke.", he says. The corner of her mouth lifts in a smirk, but it's gone before he can confirm it.

This time when she closes the door, he hears her voice. It's soft, as if she doesn't want him to hear, and he wouldn't have heard if he wasn't paying close attention.

"Nice to meet you Luke, I'm Hailey."

* * *

Next Sunday's flavor was espresso. Luke chuckled softly to himself at the name of it. Everyone knew it was just coffee, but naming it espresso made it sound better than it really was. The ten dollar bill was already in his hand, and the cashier didn't even bother to tell him the price this time. It was routine, now. Routine enough anyway.

The walk to her apartment was colder than the first Sunday, snow was falling faster, in heavier drifts. Luke's scarf was pulled halfway up his face, his breath puffing into the air through the holes. The hesitation is still there, but he shakes it off faster. He knocks, and this time it's not 30 seconds before the door opens.

She appraises him for a moment, at the hand he's holding the ice cream out with. When she stretches out her hand this time, she doesn't just grab the bag. Hailey grabs his entire arm and yanks him into the apartment, watching the steam roll off his clothes as he comes into contact with the warm air.

"It's really cold out there today, you should stay a while to warm up.", she says, kicking the door close behind him and turning and walking off. He assumes she's gone to the kitchen, and is understandably stunned for a few seconds before blinking back to life and starting to remove the 3 extra layers he had worn for warmth.

Luke hangs the coat on the hook behind the door, his jumper along with it, as well as the hoodie. He's left with a cold and wrinkle t-shirt, coupled with an even colder pair of jeans. He stands shivering in the foyer for a bit, waiting for his hands to warm up before following Hailey into the kitchen.

She's made two cups of hot chocolate, and they wordlessly bring them to the living room. She flicks on the tv to some channel, then turns the volume down so that it's a pleasant hum in the background.

"So why are you buying me ice cream?", she asks, and that's all it takes to start a two hour conversation, filled with witty banter and the odd joke or two. Luke doesn't realize how much time flies until he checks his watch and it's 3am in the morning.

"I have to go.", he says, handing the now empty cup of hot chocolate back to her. "Thank you for everything, this has been my favorite night of the month." Hailey smiles at him, and this time he doesn't need to squint to see it. She has a pretty smile and even prettier eyes.

When he gets to the door to shrug his jumper, hoodie and coat on. She hugs him quickly around the midriff before opening the door and playfully shoving him out. Luke stumbles onto the steps but catches himself easily.

"See you next week?", it's posed as a question, and Luke thinks it's quite possibly the easiest question he's ever gotten.

"Of course."

* * *

 

Next week Luke shows up with a tub of mocha. His first thought when he saw it was ' at least I'll look like I support Japan'. The hesitation is still there when he knocks, but it disappears when the door swings open. Hailey doesn't even bother to say hi, just turns around and walks back in. Luke closes the door behind him, shrugging off his 3 extra layers and hanging them on the hook once more.

He makes his way to the kitchen, handing her the ice cream before grabbing the two cups of hot chocolate and heading toward the living room. The tv is already on, giving the place a homey feel. Luke sits down in the same spot, shifting to the left to give Hailey room.

They start talking almost immediately, and time flies by once more. Luke thinks that he'd never laugh this hard before, and certainly not this many times in the short span of two hours. When it's time for him to go home, he can't help but regret not having arrived sooner.

This time when he's standing on the doorsteps, Luke has something to say. " I uh, was wondering whether uh. Whether I could bring you out to eat next Sunday?", he avoided mentioning the word 'date' even though that was exactly what he had described.

Hailey cocks her head at him, and for a moment he thinks she's going to reject, but that beautiful smile crosses her face again, and all she says is, " Be here at 7."

If Luke is smiling and humming happy songs to himself during the walk home, no one has to know.

* * *

The next Sunday he shows up dutifully on her doorstep at 7 o' clock sharp. Luke had taken extra care to look neat today, her first impression of him had already been lousy, couldn't have her thinking he has 0 fashion sense as well.

He knocks after a moment, and the door swings open almost immediately. Hailey looks exceptionally adorable in her red coat and ankle boots, and Luke takes the liberty to tell her that. She blushes, just a little, and swats at his arm before turning around to lock the door.

He takes her to a fancy café just down the street, in the opposite direction from the grocery store. They order the most complicated looking thing on the menu, and are disappointed to see that it's basically just fish with different types of sauce.

Hailey enjoys it anyway, and Luke can't help but notice how her eyes sparkle when she's happy. After dinner they order ice cream, and even though neither of them mention the irony of the situation, they both know what the other is thinking.

The flavors here are horribly funny. They end up getting a scoop each of Princess Peanut Butter and Stars of Vanilla. Hailey gets chocolate sauce to go on top of it, and Luke makes a mental note of the fact in his head.

When it's time to leave, Luke laughs at the bill while Hailey is scandalized. The ice cream is three times the price and three times less than what they could've gotten at the grocery store. Luke doesn't mind though, and tries to tell her that it's okay, he's got this.

She's complaining about the price the entire walk home, and it's only when they reach her door that she stops talking. Luke is standing on the second step, so they're the same height, and he starts when he realizes it's suddenly quiet.

There's a moment of pause, just a few seconds, before Hailey is leaning forward and kissing him quickly. It's soft and sweet, and over faster than Luke would particularly like. She's gone in a heartbeat, bright red coat flashing in the corner of Luke's eyes.

They don't know, but there are smiles and blushes on both sides of the door tonight.


End file.
